12 The Gruesome Dombo! (1/2)

The duo arrived to a clearing in a forest which was near the collection of huts. Hundreds of children were lined up in front of a stage. Oddly enough there were perfectly spherical boulders the size of a soccer ball in front of each child. On the stage was a chair in which another buff man was seated.

The other buff men were scattered around the perimeter of the children. Hard auras permeated from their bodies. Taku was lined up at the back. After a few minutes the buff man who was seated finally stood up.

”Children of my Gutu Empire. I, Tanaka, welcome you to hell!”

Tanaka's voice was quite intimidating, but the children did not falter under its influence. Causing him to smile in approval.

”The other men before you, are to be referred to as Protectors. I am to be referred to as Hall Master. Now to begin your training. Each of you, pick up the boulder in front of you now!”

None of the children dared delay and each picked up a rock. All of the children had one thought when they picked up the boulders.

Heavy!

Some of the weaker ones almost fell over. But no one screamed and no one complained. Causing Tanaka to nod his head in approval once more.

This is how a Gutu child should be!

”Now listen up. I will only explain this once. The duration of this training is 4 years. It is to make you into a warrior worthy of the guard. The training is very simple. Each of you is tasked with carrying the rock you just picked up for the next 4 years!

When you are sleeping you better be holding it. When you piss you better be holding it. When u shit you better be holding it. I don't care how you do it, but your hand must always be holding the rock. If the rock touches the ground you are disqualified. If it is destroyed you are disqualified!

Now let me say this. There are about three thousand of you, and my Gutu Empire does not force any of its citizens to anything against their will. Thus I will say this one time. This training is lethal, and losing your rock means disqualification which also means death. Thus if there are any among you who wish to quit now is your chance!”

No child moved so much as a single muscle. Tanaka was once again pleased with this result and nodded.

”Alright brats. This is going to be a simple training exercise. Every day, from morning till evening, each of you will move with the Protectors and climb a mountain. Coming down is also difficult thus do not underestimate it. Meals will be left at at the entrance of your huts at sun up and sun down. Mind you, this must all happen while you are carrying the rocks.

Now in the Guard we have a motto. One which we will follow to our graves. Listen closely and repeat after me.”

Tanaka raised his hand and bellowed at the top of his lungs. ”Pain before dishonour, death before defeat!”

”Pain before dishonour, death before defeat!”

The children echoed his chant as best as they could. Then something unexpected occurred. The rocks in the hands of the children started shining.

Dum! Dum! Dum!

This sound appeared all around the children as quite a few dropped their rocks. And the moment they did, their bodies would fall limp to the ground.

”Argh!!”

It took all of Taku's willpower to not drop the rock. The rock had suddenly released a hot energy that rampaged all over his body the moment he said the motto. The energy acted like shackles, binding all of Taku's body. His entire body suddenly felt much heavier and the rock in his hands became very hot. It was as if he was holding a mini sun. Even movement became difficult as if each of his muscles had been restrained by the hot energy.

It was due to this that a few hundred children dropped their rocks. A few moments later the rocks stopped shining, and screams were everywhere across the clearing. From time to time a child would drop a rock, falling limp to the ground.

”Each of you has now activated the spell in the rocks. These rocks are called dombos. A dombo is a special kind of metal or rock that has undergone enchantment. The dombos you are holding are special in that they are designed to restrict the energy in your bodies, making you much weaker while at the same time delivering torture in some form.

These dombos have another function. Once they link with someone the person becomes dependent. In other words if you lose contact with your dombo you will die instantly. The dombos are also enchanted to disintegrate if they come into contact with earth type energy. In other words, if they even so much as touch the ground the result is instant death!

If you were to touch another person's dombo with your own body the result is instant death! If your combo gets destroyed or disintegrates it's instant death!

So understand this. We don't need to monitor you brats. The dombos will do that for us. However know this, if you are caught by me or any of the Protectors trying to kill someone, then the result is that you will be killed on the spot!

Why would you want to kill you ask? Because the moment only one hundred dombos are left, the spell binding you to the dombos will be canceled!

If this happens before the four year mark then you can spend the rest of the time in the camp as you wish. Now all of you follow the Protectors. That is all, dismissed!”